ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and India traded sharp barbs during the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) meeting held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as the South Asian countries exchanged allegations over longstanding disputes, including Kashmir, cross-border terrorism, and the Indus Waters Treaty.
The exchange began when India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, in his speech, highlighted issues of terrorism, the situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the Indus Waters Treaty. He claimed that India had the right to hold the IWT in abeyance, a claim strongly rejected by Pakistan.
In response, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Malaysia, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, while exercising the Right of Reply, described India’s allegations as “baseless” and accused New Delhi of greater hypocrisy in its repeated invocation of terrorism.
“While pointing fingers, India forgets that its own hands are elbow-deep in regional destabilisation and violence,” Ambassador Siddiqui said.
He accused India of resorting to its “habitual exercise in deflection,” characterising its narrative as a “familiar blend of indignation, half-truths, and theatrical victimhood.”
The Pakistani envoy reminded the ASEAN forum that a serving Indian naval officer, Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav, had been apprehended inside Pakistan while “directing terrorist networks and sponsoring attacks under the auspices of Indian state agencies”.
He added that India’s “covert footprint” is not confined to Pakistan and that its actions have destabilised several parts of South Asia.
“Judging by its actions, India appears determined to serve as the regional distribution centre for terrorism, subversion, and chaos,” Ambassador Siddiqui maintained.
The Pakistani envoy also criticised India’s campaign of extrajudicial assassinations on foreign soil, which, he said, Pakistan publicly exposed in January 2024 with “irrefutable evidence.” He said these incidents reveal a dangerous disregard for international norms.
Turning to the Kashmir dispute, Ambassador Siddiqui noted that it was India that had taken the issue to the United Nations Security Council decades ago. “When the UN Security Council responded, India chose defiance over compliance,” he said
The Pakistani envoy claimed that India is carrying out a “sustained campaign of brutal suppression” in the occupied region.
“Jammu and Kashmir cannot become ‘integral’ simply by repetition, especially not from an election rally,” he said, reiterating that the people of Kashmir are entitled to the right of self-determination under international law.
Responding to the Indian minister’s remarks on the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), Ambassador Siddiqui said that attempts to unilaterally suspend the treaty due to discomfort amounted to “vandalism,” not diplomacy. “India now believes it can unilaterally hold IWT in abeyance, simply because it feels uncomfortable. This is not statecraft, it is vandalism.”
“When a country treats its own written commitments as optional, it invites the world to treat its words the same way,” the Pakistani envoy added.
Ambassador Siddiqui pointed to India’s internal political ideology, saying that campaigns inspired by the RSS pose a threat to regional peace. “Let us not ignore the ideological elephant in the room. The fascistic campaigns drawn straight from the RSS playbook pose a grave threat to regional peace.”
“When water becomes a weapon and treaties are discarded like campaign flyers, one must ask, what next?” he remarked.
Ambassador Siddiqui reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to peace and dialogue but warned that the country was fully prepared to defend its sovereignty. “Pakistan has always preferred dialogue to resolve issues over military confrontations,” he said.
“Pakistan is fully capable of countering any future aggressive action against its sovereignty and territorial integrity. However, we have always preferred dialogue to resolve issues over military confrontations,” he said.
The ASEAN Regional Forum, comprising 27 member states, serves as a key platform for dialogue and cooperation on political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific.
